Conan The Cimmerian #3Review

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Trouble finds Conan in the mountains of Cimmeria.

By Daniel Crown

It took three issues, but Timothy Truman has finally produced a story that steers his Conan reboot toward its stated direction. While in many ways atypical, Cimmerian #3 still manages to fulfill some of the series' lingering promises, finally showcasing the consequences of Conan's initial departure from Cimmeria and presenting an interesting new premise that bodes well for future stories.

I understand Truman's focus on Conan's grandfather, Connacht, is meant to serve as a parallel to the barbarian's conflicting feelings about returning to Cimmeria, but to this point, the flashbacks have been mildly distracting. They've basically predominated the entirety of the reboot thus far, stealing the limelight away from what was suppose to be Conan's coming home party. Not that the stories aren't relatively interesting, just somewhat out of place for a new series.

While Cimmerian #3 does feature a short Connacht story, it doesn't completely overshadow the other events that seem geared to propel the story forward. Truman uses his 22 pages well here, managing to spill a little blood, while also hinting at a few changes to the status quo that have the potential to keep things interesting for the prolonged future.

In the meantime, the art of Conan continues to be exemplary. I'm going to miss the covers by Tony Harris, but the outstanding interior pencils soften the blow quite a bit, being about as good as anything Dark Horse's arsenal of artists have produced thus far on the title. Both Giorello and Corren do a fantastic job at telling their stories, avoiding the pratfall of turning every panel into a pastiche of a Frazetta painting, a habit that seems to develop from time to time with Conan artists.

In the end, there might not be anything landmark here, but at least the issue redirects the series focus back towards Conan. Hopefully this more proactive trend will continue next month.